About Me

Somehow, two years have passed. And Dallin will be flying back to the states on March 26th. It has been quite the adventure! I will encourage him to add his own summary when he gets back...(Living the good life in the Philippines, Quezon City North Mission. Entered the MTC in Provo on April 4, 2012. Flew to the Philippines on Sunday, May 13, 2012. What a great adventure! And what an honor to serve the good people of the Pines!)

Monday, July 29, 2013

07-29-13 Maybe it was a miracle; like the loaves and the fishes?

Of course I knew! I just had no idea! Yes family, yes. The
dearly beloved movie does still get quoted, even here in the Philippines. Man,
how y'all been!!? It's been so long! Perhaps a grand total of four days or so?
So not much went down I guess. But I have made a list this week! A LIST!!!! DR.
POOLE???? Hello!!!! Get back in the room!! Sorry! To tell you the truth, it was
mom's email subject line that set me off! Anywho, the week was short, but of
course, on the Lord's time, that doesn't really matter! And yea verily, we had
plenty of time for good things to happen! Let's gooo!

First and this is just funny. Sorry. But we met this old
nanay. She is actually the grandma of the sister at the bakery. GRANDMA. Yeah,
I thought she meant mother. But she didn't. She meant grandma. The lady is 80.
Barely looks 60. Funny as goodness that one. But full of wisdom too. Kept
telling us how important it is to pray and read the Bible and teach your kids
right and to respect folks. But she kept telling us that some of those other
religions, in particular the Bill's and the Sue's (name's have been changed to
protect the image of the said religions) were full of garbage. She said they
preach the Bible but they teach it wrong. She said they must not be using the
same one she is cuz it clearly teaches against a lot of stuff they do. She said
those dog gone Bill's and Sue's are palpak! Oh she said all kinds of things!
Man, it was a little awkward! But she is very wise while she's been crazy. A
family that prays together, stays together daw. She said that the young folks
today just have no respect. She said that's on the head of the parents. They
need to raise em up good! Man, it was a wonderful chat we had with her. She
happens to live next door to the bakery woman as well, so hopefully, we can
bring her into the gospel. She's already got a good start. But she gave us a
good laugh while she was at it.

We also got interviewed by college students this week. They
are from the College of Criminology. They are doing a study on the effect
religion has on the rate of crime. They came over to the church while we were
there and the leaders sent them in to us. Go figure. That was a little nerve
wracking. But not bad. It was way awesome to share about our church with them.
And fact. Does religion help reduce crime? You'd better believe it does! Especially
if it's Ang Simbahan ni Jesu Cristo sa mga Banal sa mga Huling Araw.

Sister Durado, our wonderful bakery woman. She is awesome!
And her kids are awesome! We taught her twice this week. Finished up the gospel
of Jesus Christ. And we taught her the Law of Chastity. We were a little
nervous there cuz we weren't sure if she and her "husband" were
married. But surprise! And the pleasant kind! They are!!! SWEET!!! Wonderful!
She is awesome! And to top it all off, she made it to church. Now, we just have
to teach her 10 commandments and see if she'll shut her bakery down completely
on Sunday. Won't that be awesome? And her husband is willing to be taught as
well. So we will get the whole family!!! Celebrate? I think yes!

We were on a role for Law of Chastity this week. We taught
our super duper shy investigator about it and she was probably the most
involved she's ever been in any of our lessons. And she seemed to completely
understand it! Sweet! And, I taught the good old LOC yesterday in gospel principles.
It makes for a solid lesson!

Now. Thought for the day. I have been a little frustrated
this week. We have some super awesome investigators that progress really well.
We have some investigators that aren't that awesome. And we have some awesome
investigators that are cool in lessons, but outside, don't really seem to care!
What?! Yes. It's a real bummer. And I'm sure it's that way for every missionary
who has ever served, or is serving, or ever will serve. But man! What a bummer!
You are right there, giving them exactly what they need to be happy, and they
treat it like it's nothing! I was reading a talk earlier this morning, from
Elder Christofferson, called A Sense of the Sacred. Excellent talk. And he
mentioned a scripture that nailed it. D&C 84:54 "And your minds in
times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated
lightly the things you have received". When we treat lightly things that
are sacred, our minds will be darkened. We won't receive the blessings the Lord
would like to give us. We won't find the happiness that comes from such sacred
things. I see it all the time with investigators here. The truth and blessings
are so close to them. SOOO close! But they aren't willing to accept them. Faith
brings action. And in order to treat things as being sacred, we need to use
those things the Lord gives us. People here are all about having "Bible
Study". But when it comes to exercising faith and doing things, they find
themselves "too busy". It is my hope that as we go through our full
and busy days, we don't find ourselves "too busy" for the Lord and
the sacred things He has entrusted us with. Things like prayer, scriptures,
words of the prophets, church, and the temple. 2 Nephi 28:30 reminds
us that, "and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them
shall be taken away even that which they have." So don't treat these
things lightly and remember to use them all! We are all terribly busy, but when
you seem to not have time for the Lord, make time.

Sorry mates. That's my rant for the day. Lemme see what I
can round up for y'all in the pics department! It may be a good haul. First up,
is our wonderful magic man just destroying the sanity of my companion. And in
the back is his father, which is the Filipino version of the Papa Mac. Don't
know if you can see it, but he for sure is. He is a lacking a few teeth though.
Then just a pic out in our area. Beauty ain't she? Then some super cute
kids we stopped to play with in the rain. They were awesome! Then us with our
good friend Mark, who says his hair is now American. Personally thought black
looked better, but whatevs. Also, word is he's friends with my mom on FB. Stay
in touch with that one momma. He's sweet! And then....yes, we did balut again.
Good call. Then we have our beloved Valenzuela City, just outside of SM, one of
the greatest places in the Philippines. And then us at lunch earlier, eating at
Lucky Gardens Seafood and Shabu-shabu. Chinese place. Elder Wu has been dying
to go there. So we tried it out. And we will probably be going back. It was
good!

But I do believe that is it (and probably more than enough)
for this week! So everyone have a marvelous week! Love you all!